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Oregon Paint-Recycling Program Reports on First Year, Calls it a Success

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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Oregon residents have recycled more than 469,665 gallons of paint in the first year of the state-legislated recycling program, PaintCare.

In the first year of PaintCare, Oregon residents recycled more than 469,665 gallons of latex and alkyd paint.

Under Oregon’s paint recycling legislation, passed in 2009, paint manufacturers are required to safely manage leftover latex and oil-based paint from consumer and contractor painting projects (see Oregon Paint ‘Take-Back’ Program Begins Operation).

PaintCare was created in 2010, as the non-profit organization in charge of administrating the state-legislated recycling program. The program is funded by paint and coatings manufacturers.

After the first year, PaintCare representatives said 95 collection sites, including retail paint and hardware stores, “ReStores,” household hazardous waste collection facilities and events, provided options for residents to recycle nearly 470,000 gallons of old paint between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011.

Also, large-volume direct pick-ups were provided to institutional, commercial and industrial entities, the organization said.

A report on the program’s first year indicated that 217,818 gallons were collected outside the Portland Metro Area, with almost 50,000 gallons collected in the “Tri-County” area—6,255 gallons in Clackamas County, 20,520 gallons in Multnomah County and 23,175 gallons in Washington County.

Some of the participating collection sites in the Tri-County region include retail locations for Miller Paint, Kelly-Moore Paint Company, The Sherwin-Williams Company, and Rodda Paint Company.

“The first year results exceeded the program’s projections on various levels and we are looking forward to continued success in year two as well as the future success in 2012 in California and 2013 in Connecticut,” said Alison Keane, executive director for PaintCare.

The collected material included latex paint, which accounted for 75% of the total, and alkyd paint, which made up 25%, PaintCare said.

In addition to paint, the PaintCare program recycled 47.1 tons of plastic paint pails and 64.8 tons of metal pails.
 
More information: www.paintcare.org.